MUSIC THERAPY - Clinic Information
The Music Therapy Wellness Clinic at CSUN
The Music Therapy Wellness Clinic provides individually designed music activities for children and adults with disabilities and special challenges, including autism, developmental delay, physical, mental and emotional disorders, and learning disabilities.
Music therapy is a field that uses music in a prescribed manner as a treatment for rehabilitating, maintaining, and improving the lives of persons with physical, intellectual and emotional disabilities. Music Therapy is a creative arts therapy similar to others such as Art, Dance, and Drama Therapy. It is, however, unique in that music provides an accessible and enjoyable medium for growth and learning. It is a healing art, based on scientific principles and grounded in research.
The Music Therapy Wellness Clinic is dedicated to creating an environment where an individual with special challenges can acquire necessary life skills through the unique, creative and enjoyable medium of music. Our therapists are internationally recognized and encompass a range of techniques and areas of expertise. Our entire treatment team is dedicated to creating the opportunity for each participant to express his or her true creative essence while gaining needed skills and enhancing self-esteem.
The Music Therapy Wellness Clinic is a teaching clinic for the CSUN Music Therapy Department. As such, all sessions are utilized for student observation and learning and are part of the educational process for future music therapists.
The Benefits of Music Therapy Include:
- Development of fine and gross motor skills
- Improvement in acquisition and application of academic fundamentals
- Development of practical life skills
- Increase in socialization
- Enhancement of self-esteem
- Expansion of the quality of life through musical enjoyment and creative self-expression
The Music Therapy Wellness Clinic provides individual and group sessions conducted by a highly trained and experienced Music Therapist. A variety of instruments are used, including piano, guitar, percussion, autoharp, recorder and harmonica, as well as voice.
Director: Ron Borczon, MT-BC, MM
Ron Borczon is the author of "Music Therapy: Group Vignettes", and Music Therapy a Fieldwork Primer." He is known internationally for his innovative approaches with victims of traumatic events. He has received the highest award of the AMTA for his work with Oklahoma City Survivors and travels extensively to support communities affected by violence.
Assistant Director: Julie Allis Berghofer, NRMT
Julie Allis Berghofer has over twenty years of experience as a clinician and teacher in the pediatric special needs field. She has a particular interest in the early intervention and working with children with autism or profound multiple needs.
Senior Clinician: Penny Roberts, MT-BC
Penny earned her Master’s Degree in Music Therapy from Florida State University in 2002, and shortly thereafter relocated to Los Angeles. Her work has focused on using Music Therapy in both the behavioral and counseling/supportive settings. She is one of the authors of the Individualized Music Therapy Assessment Profile, scheduled for publication by Jessica Kingsley Publishers in November of 2007.
Penny’s experience ranges from working with children with disabilities to a thorough knowledge of geriatrics and using music therapy in medical settings. She established the Music Therapy program in the Los Angeles location of a national hospice company, and continues to serve as its Music Therapy consultant. Penny is Board-Certified, and provides clinical supervision to undergraduate students seeking a degree in Music Therapy.
Clinician: Victor Lissabet, MT-BC
Victor Lissabet is a graduate from the Music Therapy Program at CSUN where he was awarded the Los Aguado–Sadio Memorial Endowment, the highest award a music therapy student can be given, and the Bostrom Scholarship. He completed his training at the Center For Discovery in New York and brings a wide range of experience and musical ability to the clinic. He is also a well known Yoga Instructor
Registration and Fees:
$35.00 per half hour
$35.00 per forty-five minute group
$50.00 materials fee per semester
The Music Therapy Clinic is currently an approved vendor for North LA County Regional Center and Lanterman Regional Center, vendor number PL0047.
For more information please contact:
The Music Therapy Clinic
Department of Music
California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, California, 91330-8314
(818) 677-5663
The CSUN Music Therapy Clinic is an independently funded clinic housed in the CSUN Music Department. The Clinic is the main teaching arena for the highly respected CSUN Music Therapy Department and currently services more than 40 clients. The staff and services of The Clinic have been recognized by many entities, including AMTA, WRAMTA, The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Readers Digest and, most recently, as the recipient of the Music Heals Have A Heart concert featuring such artists as Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald and Stephen Bishop.